Naylor Community Christian Church
I. Introduction
-- turn in
Bibles to 2 Samuel 4:4
2 Samuel 4:4
New International
Version
4 (Jonathan son of
Saul had a son who was lame in both feet. He was five years old when the news
about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel. His nurse picked him up and fled,
but as she hurried to leave, he fell and became disabled. His name was
Mephibosheth.)
-- as we
open this morning, I want to share with you the story of Abaynesh, a teen-aged
girl who lives in Ethiopia -- Abaynesh
was born with a severely crippling condition called knock knees
-- now this
is not what we think of when we say someone around us is knock-kneed -- when we
see them, we mean their knees touch, but in Abaynesh's case, her knees were so
bowed-in that they actually crossed -- and she was unable to walk or to get
around on her own
-- the
people in her village said the reason she looked like that was because of a
curse -- that she had been cursed by evil spirits -- and so the people in the
village shunned her
-- “They
called me ‘the crippled one.’ she said.
"Everyone in my village made fun of me because my knees crossed
each other like this. -- I never thought I would be able to get a job to
support myself, because I was only able to sit down and do the simplest of
work.” -- as a result, Abaynesh lived a life of isolation and hopelessness --
never leaving the walls of her hut -- never daring to hope she might live a
normal life
-- Abaynesh's
mother gave her away to another family as a servant -- to cook and clean for
them -- but this family did not take care of her and gave her very little food
to eat in return for the work she did for them -- she was forced to search
outside the home for scraps in order to survive -- crawling around in the dust
looking for anything she might eat
-- and as
her isolation and time inside the house increased, Abaynesh lost hope she would
ever look or feel normal -- She feared that she would be cursed this way
forever.
-- but a
miracle happened -- a team from CURE Ethiopia found out about her and her
condition and arranged for her to receive surgery to heal her legs -- and after
a long and painful recovery, Abaynesh has been made whole and well -- she is now
able to walk and to work and to support herself as a housemaid for another family
in a new village in Ethiopia
“I prayed and
promised God that I would devote myself to Him if He healed my legs” -- and He
did1
-- it is
always heart-warming to hear stories like this -- to read of people like
Abaynesh who were once crippled but have been made whole -- who once were sick
but who are now healed -- who were once lost, but now have been found
-- just as
a real quick aside, if you’re not familiar with Cure International, they are a
Christian non-profit whose ministry is to meet the physical and spiritual needs
of children in developing countries who have been unable to be treated – they
provide life-changing surgeries to these children at no cost and train doctors
and nurses in these countries who can carry on this ministry themselves – so,
if you have a moment, look up Cure International and see how you might be able
to help
-- as they
say on TV, now back to the show -- this morning, after hearing the story of
Abaynesh, I wanted us to take a moment and talk about another crippled person
that you may not be familiar with -- a crippled man named Mephibosheth – so
that we can see a powerful story of grace that applies directly to our own
lives
II. The Story of Mephibosheth
-- we are
first introduced to Mephibosheth here in 2 Samuel 4:4 -- let's read that verse
again
2 Samuel 4:4
New International Version
4 (Jonathan son of Saul had a son who was lame in both
feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from
Jezreel. His nurse picked him up and fled, but as she hurried to leave, he fell
and became disabled. His name was Mephibosheth.)
-- let me
give you the background so you'll understand who the players are -- as you
probably remember, Saul was the first king of Israel -- God had appointed Saul
to be king of Israel at the request of the people -- they were tired of being
governed by judges and prophets -- they wanted a king just like all the other
nations around them -- and so God granted their request and made Saul king
-- Saul was
a gifted military leader, but he wasn't a very good king -- he rebelled against
God -- he refused to follow the direction God gave through the prophet Samuel
-- and so God raised up David -- a man after His own heart -- to become king in
place of Saul
-- after
David defeated Goliath, Saul elevated him to a leadership position in the army
-- and David led the nation to victory many times in their war with the
Philistines and the Amalekites -- and each time he won a battle, his name grew
in the land and people began to follow him
-- David
was everything Saul wasn't -- not only was David a gifted military leader, but
he was a natural leader -- he loved the people and the people loved him -- and
as David led Saul's armies, the people started giving David more and more
acclaim and praised his name in public above Saul's -- and this made Saul
jealous and angry -- and so he decided to kill David and declared war on him
-- some
time after this, Saul and Jonathan were killed in a battle with the Philistines
-- and the throne of Israel passed to his only remaining son, Ish-Bosheth --
Ish-Bosheth was betrayed by his followers, and was killed while he was laying
in bed -- which left Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the only heir remaining
to the throne of Israel
-- when
Ish-Bosheth was killed, the people in Saul's house were afraid that David was
going to come and kill Mephibosheth and everyone there in the palace in order
to become king of Israel once and for all
-- so,
everyone began to run for their lives -- Mephibosheth's nurse grabbed him and
tried to run with him, but he fell and injured his feet and became crippled for
life -- they fled to a small village in the wilderness, where they hoped to
live in anonymity, safely away from David's wrath
-- so
that's the back story about Mephibosheth -- so let's get to the good stuff
-- turn
over to 2 Samuel 9 and we'll pick up the story of Mephibosheth there
-- verse 1-3
2 Samuel 9:1 David asked, “Is there anyone still left of
the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?”
2 Now there was a servant of Saul’s household named Ziba.
They summoned him to appear before David, and the king said to him, “Are you
Ziba?”
“At your service,” he replied.
3 The king asked, “Is there no one still alive from the
house of Saul to whom I can show God’s kindness?”
Ziba answered the king, “There is still a son of
Jonathan; he is lame in both feet.”
-- now
David had a special relationship with Saul's son Jonathan -- you could say they
were blood brothers -- and even though Jonathan's father Saul hated David and
wanted to kill him, Jonathan loved David and David loved Jonathan -- they would
do anything for each other
-- Jonathan
actually warned David that Saul was coming to kill him so that David could
escape and get away safely -- and David protected Jonathan when they were on
the battlefield -- Jonathan and David made a covenant with each other to always
take care of each other's families, no matter what -- and even now, years after
Jonathan's death, David still thought of his friend and remembered their
relationship and their covenant
-- I bring
this up because what happens to Mephibosheth occurs because of the relationship
between David and Jonathan -- it's a reminder to us that our religion is not a
religion based on rules -- it's a religion based on relationship
-- the very
first verses of the Bible speak of relationship -- when we look at Genesis
1:1-2, we read of God the Father creating the heavens and the earth -- of
Jesus, the Word of God, speaking into existence all creation -- and the Holy
Spirit hovering over the waters of the deep -- the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
-- joined together in relationship -- and from that relationship -- from their
love -- the universe was created so that we might live in relationship with God
-- and it
was like that with us in the beginning -- man was in relationship with his
Creator -- the Bible says that God walked with Adam in the Garden in the cool
of the day -- they enjoyed each other's presence -- they loved each other --
things were good -- everything was as it should be – everything was as it was
designed to be -- mankind in perfect relationship with God and with each other
-- but just
like Mephibosheth, we were crippled by a fall – by The Fall – when Adam and Eve
disobeyed God and ate of the forbidden fruit – when they did that, their
spirits were crippled and their sin destroyed our relationship with God forever
-- no longer can we love Him as He
desires – no longer can we love each other as God desired -- we are crippled in
spirit and unable to walk with either God or each other in perfect fellowship and
relationship like Adam and Eve did before they sinned
– but God promises that it won’t
always be like this -- this is part of the hope that we have in Christ – that
when He returns, all will be made new and we will once again experience the
perfection of relationship that we once enjoyed, with both God and with each
other
-- that's
why God gives us portraits of grace and promise such as the picture of the
relationship between David and Jonathan, to remind us of what our relationship
with Him and others will look like after we are redeemed through God’s grace
-- verse 4
4 “Where is he?” the king asked.
Ziba answered, “He is at the house of Makir son of Ammiel
in Lo Debar.”
-- when
David asks where Mephibosheth is, he is told Mephibosheth is living in Lo Debar
-- Lo Debar was a city east of the Jordan River -- the whole area is a barren
wasteland -- the literal meaning of Lo Debar is “the place of no bread.”
--
Mephibosheth was hiding out in a desolate place -- he was in the far country --
he was as far away from David as he could possibly get
-- this
describes us -- we live as Mephibosheth does in the start of this passage -- in
the wilderness -- crippled in spirit -- hiding from the King with no hope of
restoration -- with no way for us to walk back into His good graces
-- as Jerry
Bridges points out, “Mephibosheth, in his crippled and destitute condition,
unable to improve his lot and wholly dependent on the benevolence of others, is
an illustration of you and me, crippled by sin and unable to help ourselves”
--
Mephibosheth is a picture of who we were before we came to Christ
-- verse 5
5 So King David had
him brought from Lo Debar, from the house of Makir son of Ammiel.
-- what a
picture of grace! -- Mephibosheth was unable to come before the king, so the
king went to him -- even though Mephibosheth sought to live his life in hiding,
David sought him out and did everything he could to bring him home to the
palace
-- we see
in the actions of David a picture of God's prevenient grace – David, in his
graciousness towards Mephibosheth, represents God the Father in this passage --
and just as the king sought out Mephibosheth, so the King of the universe
sought us -- God sought us through His creation -- He sought us through His
word -- He sought us through His Son
-- before
we were even aware of His presence -- before we even knew He existed -- God was
seeking us and reaching out to us through His prevenient grace
-- our
spiritual lives begin because God took the initiative and sought us -- we could
do nothing on our own -- we do not have the capacity within ourselves to even
begin seeking God or desiring Him -- this is all a move of God
-- and because
we could not go to God, God came for us -- we were just like the lost sheep
that Jesus spoke about -- God left the ninety-nine to find us -- the one sheep
that was lost -- in order to bring us to the cross of forgiveness
-- verse 6-12
6 When Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul,
came to David, he bowed down to pay him honor.
David said, “Mephibosheth!”
“At your service,” he replied.
7 “Don’t be afraid,” David said to him, “for I will
surely show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore
to you all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will always
eat at my table.”
8 Mephibosheth bowed down and said, “What is your
servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?”
9 Then the king summoned Ziba, Saul’s steward, and said
to him, “I have given your master’s grandson everything that belonged to Saul
and his family. 10 You and your sons and your servants are to farm the land for
him and bring in the crops, so that your master’s grandson may be provided for.
And Mephibosheth, grandson of your master, will always eat at my table.” (Now
Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.)
11 Then Ziba said to the king, “Your servant will do
whatever my lord the king commands his servant to do.” So Mephibosheth ate at
David’s[a] table like one of the king’s sons.
12 Mephibosheth had a young son named Mika, and all the
members of Ziba’s household were servants of Mephibosheth.
-- it's
important to note here that Mephibosheth was restored to his place because of
another -- David made Mephibosheth like his own son and elevated him to a place
at the king's table -- not because of anything Mephibosheth had done or because
Mephibosheth was good and righteousness
-- no,
David elevated Mephibosheth because of his love for another -- he elevated
Mephibosheth because of Jonathan
-- it's the
same for us -- that's the story of Christianity -- we can stand today forgiven
and clean and restored -- we can live in relationship with God and eat at His
table -- not because of anything we have done -- but simply because of who
Jesus is and what Jesus has done
-- just as
Jonathan was the bridge between David and Mephibosheth, Jesus stands as the
bridge between us and the Father -- and to come to the Father, we must come
through Jesus -- for it is only by believing in Him and His finished work on
the cross can we be reconciled and restored in relationship with the King
-- verse 13
13 And Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, because he always
ate at the king’s table; he was lame in both feet.
--
Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem -- he ate at the king's table -- but he
remained crippled in his feet for the rest of his life
-- Mephibosheth
remained physically crippled, even after being elevated -- God healed the
relationship, but He didn't heal the body -- every day when Mephibosheth woke
up and saw his crippled feet and realized where he was, he was reminded of how
he got there -- he didn't do it on his own -- he was only in the king's palace
because of grace
-- when the
Apostle Paul was beset with a thorn in the flesh, he prayed to God three times
to have it removed -- but God refused to remove it -- it stayed as a reminder
to Paul of his need for God
-- in the
same way, even though we stand before the throne of God as redeemed Christians,
our sin nature remains within us to remind us that we stand before God only
through grace -- that we can never make it our own -- but that we need Him
every moment of every day
-- we
remain crippled like Mephibosheth to remind us that we are dependent on God for
all that we are and all that we do even as we look forward to the promise of
healing, restoration, and grace that only comes through Christ
-- so, as
we close today, let us take a moment to thank God for remembering us in our
crippled state -- to thank Him for seeking us when we were in a far country --
to thank Him for saving us when we could not save ourselves
-- and
let's leave here today in humbleness and adoration -- and let's carry his
message of hope to the crippled souls around us
-- let us
pray
------------------------------------------------
1 Modified from story by Bruce Alain Flury, "Meet
Abaynesh" https://cure.org/2012/05/meet-abaynesh/
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